Owner of Beleaguered Bar Agrees to Give Up License

The owner of a problem-plagued Hollywood sports bar has agreed to cease operations amid mounting protests by neighbors and efforts of state lawmakers and the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to shut it down permanently.

The La Iguerita bar was allowed to reopen Thursday after a 45-day liquor license suspension for selling alcohol to intoxicated patrons, despite the state beverage agency’s efforts to permanently close it. The sports bar was the scene of a brawl and shoot-out in April that left one man dead and three others injured, including one man later charged with murder in the case.

Just as the bar at 6365 Yucca St. was set to open, community members gathered outside to protest, and state beverage officials warned that they were seeking other ways to close it and were investigating whether it was operating under false ownership.

At that point, Cruz Antonio Guevara, identified in state documents as one of two owners, agreed to relinquish the license. That prompted community members, led by the Ivar Hill Community Assn., to hold an impromptu pizza party in front of La Iguerita.

Neighbors said the bar was a magnet for drug dealing and gang activity that was ruining the neighborhood. But state beverage officials had stressed that, despite several citations, they could not close the bar without a lengthy administrative hearing.